In SAT writing sections, there is only one question type: multiple-choice. Totally 44 questions should be finished in 35 minutes. The work objects are four passages; each has about 400-450 words.
The multiple-choice questions in writing sections are designed to check students' abilities of:
- Communicating clearly, good vocabulary, and no wordy
- Improving existing sentence
- Recognizing sentence-level errors
- Syntax elements and structures for complex sentence
- Clearly express multiple ideas within paragraphs or sentence
- Improve coherence of ideas within and among paragraphs
The multiple-choice writing questions are presented in three formats:
Choose the best version This question type gives a sentence in which part, or all, is underlined. You then see five options to replace the underlined section.
The questions try to check the knowledge of:
- Syntax, especially the sentence structure
- The conventions of Standard Written English
Identifying sentence errors This question type gives a sentence with four portions underlined.
You need to select which of the underlined part is wrong, or, if there are no errors in your view, select the choice "No error." The questions try to check the knowledge to:
- Recognize syntax faults
- Recognize the right sentences by conventions of Standard Written English
Improving paragraphs This question type gives a passage and asks questions about it. The questions are commonly involved more than one sentence, and you will be asked to improve sentence structure or word choice.
The questions try to test the ability to:
- Edit and revise sentences
- Organize and develop paragraphs in a logical manner
- Apply the conventions of Standard Written English.